Philadelphia Flyers: Isaac Ratcliffe slowly developing with Phantoms

It’s has been a slow development for Flyers forward prospect Isaac Ratcliffe. He struggled in his first season in the American Hockey League.

Isaac Ratcliffe came into the draft projected to be a middle-six power forward. He was 6-foot-6 frame and over 200 pounds, towering over players in junior hockey. His strength was impressive, but his skating was something he needed to work on. The Flyers traded three of their draft selections to move up in the second round in 2017. That’s when they took Ratcliffe, eight picks after drafting Morgan Frost.

He continued to grow with the Guelph Storm of the OHL. He got stronger as the years when on, posting 41 goals and 68 points in his final season in 2017-18. It was looking like the Flyers made the right choice by trading up to select him.

And then came his official debut in the AHL. It didn’t exactly go as played. He struggled immediately with the Phantoms. Ratcliffe saw himself demoted in the lineup as he had trouble controlling the puck. He was no longer able to dominate players with his size and strength. The players in the AHL were much more mature and skated faster than players in the junior leagues.

The biggest thing that helped Ratcliffe improve was going to a smaller stick. Head coach Scott Gordon mentioned that the longer stick Ratcliffe was using was forcing him to lose the puck more often. Players were able to poke it off his stick due to it being far away from him.

After switching to the shorter stick, Ratcliffe found himself improve his puck handling. He was also getting stronger as well.

"“In late January, things started to click for him. He started to be a force down low and his puck protection got better. He was taking hits and giving hits. He didn’t have a lot of offensive production, but he started to get some really good chances that he probably scored on in junior.”"

The offense wasn’t quite there as he put up six goals and 15 points in 53 games for the Phantoms. But making those adjustments to his game was the most important learning experience for Ratcliffe.

It may take longer than expected to find out if Ratcliffe will be able to make an impact for the Flyers. He will have to become more consistent and find ways to continue using his size effectively. But that doesn’t mean there is anything to worry about yet.

It was only Ratcliffe’s first professional season, so there was some expectation that there’d be a learning curve. Sometimes facing a little bit of adversity is good for a player in the long run. He has the size and the skill is there. Putting everything together will be the biggest thing for Ratcliffe to focus on going into next season.